1961 Dodge Seneca: To buy or not?

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vousavec

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This is a really unique car. Problem is...so are the parts (from what I can tell so far.) My boyfriend and I are interested in buying a 1961 Seneca...for $500.

He has a '73 Charger SE (a B-body - sorry guys!), but his daily driver is a Dodge minivan - and I own a '98 Volvo. Both of us work on our cars, but we are thinking about a new addition to our family. She's beutiful, and rusty in all the usual spots (originally from New York.) She pretty much needs a complete redo.

The part I'm worried about the most is the engine, which at some point was swapped out for a 1971 straight-6 Nova engine. :scratch: (If we do buy the car, then it'll be replaced with a Dodge crate engine, unless we can find a used similar one to the original......)

I guess it's because it's such a cool car... and so cheap (we say this now, but it could be a complete money pit...) We know it will probably be near to impossible to have the car restored to complete original factory looks... but we thought with a little intelligent ingenuity and a little patience, we'll have a pretty cool and unique ride...

Comments? Suggestions anyone?
 
There are 3 varieties of '61 Dodge "Darts" The Seneca was the entry level car- The three varieties were: Seneca, Pioneer, and Phoenix.

This is a link to moparfins.com (they have some pics):

http://www.moparfins.com/Dodge/61/1961_Dodge_Seneca/1961_Dodge_Seneca.htm

The link says first 60, then '61 (but the '60 has different headlights) - Basically, the pics are of a '61.

The one I'm looking at is in worse shape, and is more of a green (like it matters - needs some paint... but the interior is that kind of green, except with black carpet (don't think the carpet is original - too fuzzy... :study: )

It's still a cool car, though....
 
That may actually be part of the B body family, like your boy friends Charger. I think 63 was the first year for the A body Dart.

Cool car non the less. I never saw one before.
 
Oh well, my login name is OldVart, so I guess I can tell you I remember those cars. :) They were NOT an A Body at that time, as Adam stated, even though they were Darts. There was also a Desoto that looked almost identical to that except the tail lights were mounted at an angle in the rear fender itself. The bottom of the light was at the outside and then flowed in toward the center of the car, following the curve of the fender. Those were the high end models, and there was actually one about 10 miles from where I live. I haven't been there in a few years, so I'm not sure if it's still there or not. As long as you don't expect to find reproduction parts or body panels, or expect to restore it to original, it won't be any more of a money pit that most old cars. They are all money pits! :) Oh, and welcome aboard, you'll like the folks here.
 
What a very nice car. I had never heard of it either. Thanks for bringing something new here. $500 may be reasonable considering that you may have to have some parts custom built or modified and that can eat of a ton of $ very quickly. If you have the time, $ and ambition, I say go for it. Yours will be both rare and special if you get her running again.

Welcome abord- LY
 
Very nice but something tells me a car that rare for 500 is going to be hard to find parts for. What kind of shape is the frame and body in.
 
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